Northpoint senior Lillie Milligan (12) shoots for three while Silverdale’s Kinsley Owen (15) jumps to attempt a block. The Lady Trojans eded Silverdale, 59-58, to advance in the DII-A state playofss.
photo by Joy Fisk
BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. -- You could not have asked for a more exciting game in Tuesday night’s first round of the state tournament as Silverdale Baptist Academy faced off against Northpoint Christian; at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, though both teams traded the lead multiple times throughout the game, in the end Northpoint beat Silverdale by just a single point, the result of a foul shot in the last few seconds of the game.
It was a disappointing loss for the Lady Seahawks who hoped to repeat last year’s state tournament feat, making it to the Elite Eight. They are a young but talented team, with sophomore point guard Kinsley Owen often racking up more than 25 points in a game, and eighth grader Sloane Colter usually effortlessly hitting three’s. Tonight, Owen was the high scorer for the night, scoring 29 points for the Seahawks, but the Seahawks struggled to score beyond the arc while Northpoint’s Lillie Milligan scored five triples.
Several steals by Owen in the first half had the Trojans scrambling to shore up their defense, but they came out stronger in the second half, and ultimately Silverdale could not get enough of a lead to hold it for long against a very strong Northpoint team. A three-point shot from SBA senior Ella Canter late in the fourth quarter looked like it might have won Silverdale the game, but Northpoint brought the ball back and gained two points at the foul line. With less than a second remaining in the game, the Lady Seahawks attempted a shot from beyond the arc by Sloane Colter, which wasn’t successful as the buzzer sounded.
After the game, Silverdale’s Head Coach Victor Underwood said, “It always hurts when your season’s over- a lot of emotions after the game…Really proud of our girls. Ella made a big shot at the end. I thought that was gonna seal it for us, and we just got a foul called on the other end. Just a tough night.”
When asked about eighth grader Sloane Colter who was under a great deal of pressure tonight in the last second of the game, Underwood said, “I trust her. Sloane’s gonna continue to grow and develop and be a great player. She didn’t have a great night tonight but these are just growing pains for her…She’s had a whole season with us as an eighth grader. She’s gonna come in as a freshman as a veteran. She started almost every game this year. Tough night tonight but she’ll bounce back.”
Northpoint Head Coach Barry Gray was gracious about the win, recognizing it could have gone either way. “Two really good teams that I thought were really fighting hard…I thought the coach [of Silverdale] did a really good job in the second half of attacking our combination defense and getting some set-shot-three’s for his role players and I thought they hit some good shots. I think both teams kinda did what they wanted to do; it’s just – you hate for anybody to lose a game like that. It was a hard-fought game. It’s always tough this time of year when you lose one or win one like this. It’s always tough.”
Talking about his own team Gray said, “The one thing I did love- we cut our turnovers in the second half down to five. We turned over a high rate in the first half, and I thought getting a few extra shots and not turning the ball over again and rebounding the ball was the difference in the game. I thought our shot length got a few rebounds off the glass and we stuck a few back. I thought that ended up being the difference.”
Senior Trojan Lillie Milligan talked about how much the win meant to their team. “It means a lot because we’ve put so much hard work into it and our season’s not over yet, so we get to continue…we were just able to glorify God throughout it all and work as a team together.”
Northpoint is now headed into the Elite 8 playing against Webb Bell Buckle in their home gym on Friday. Coach Gray said, “We gotta come back in the number 1 seed in their home gym-with it rockin’. I’m sure it’ll be loud. I’m excited because it’s been about three years since we’ve been in the final eight. We used to be there every year, and it’s been two or three years now, so I’m excited for our program to try and get back and win, lose, or draw- we’re gonna have a good play and we’re gonna fight.”
Game Summary
NORTHPOINT 16 14 14 15 -59
SILVERDALE 15 13 17 15 -58
LADY TROJANS (59) – Nailah Herrera 19, Lillie Milligan, Sarah Jane Stroud 15, Londyn Griffin 10
LADY SEAHAWKS (58) – Kinsley Owen 29, Canter, Colter, Raby 8, Littrell 5
3-Point Goals: Northpoint 6 (Milligan 5, Stroud 1), Silverdale 6 (Canter, Colter 2, Littrell Owen 1)